JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — By law, election ads have a lot of leeway in terms of what they can say. Statements that are true, taken out of context, or even completely false can often still appear on air.
One local ad you may have seen suggests that Jacksonville mayoral candidate Donna Deegan supports defunding the police.
Deegan and Daniel Davis are both running to be the city's next mayor.
THE QUESTION
Does Donna Deegan want to “defund” the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office?
THE SOURCES
- Michael Binder, Political Science Professor at the University of North Florida
- Comments by Daniel Davis in the recent mayoral debate
- Donna Deegan
THE ANSWER
No, Donna Deegan does not want to “defund” the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
WHAT WE FOUND
Deegan says she wants to fund more police.
“I have repeatedly said that I am going to fund additional police officers for our city because the data shows we need them. For the number of people, we have in Jacksonville we need extra police officers," said Deegan.
The advertisement shows a violent incident during a Black Lives Matter rally in Jacksonville in 2020. It includes a news story clip saying the group wants to defund police, then a clip of Deegan saying she attended Black Lives Matter protests.
Daniel Davis, her Republican opponent in the mayor’s race, was asked about the ad during a recent debate.
"It’s clearly a message about making your street safer. It’s about defunding the police," said Davis. The ad wasn’t paid by Davis but by the Duval GOP.
“You have to look at what they say, or you look at the people they associate themselves with and know some of the things that are being done here,"said Michael Binder.
Binder says despite what the ad implies, it wouldn’t be possible for a mayor to unilaterally defund JSO.
"As we know here in Jacksonville the city council is responsible for passing a budget, and they need to do that, and it would require at least ten votes for anything like that to happen," said Binder.
Sheriff TK Waters says Deegan has not met with him or his staff to discuss the financial needs of the agency.
*Editor's Note: This report has been updated to reflect that Action News Jax held a Jacksonville mayoral debate.